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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 4, 2022
Six Kids Farms: Striving for quality above all else
By DAVE LEDER
For the Capital Press
SUNNYSIDE, Wash. — Javier
Lopez had never tried his hand at
farming until about fi ve years ago.
But now that he has gotten his hands
dirty, the longtime agronomist from
Sunnyside, Wash., is hooked.
Since 2017, Lopez and his par-
ents, Javier Sr. and Susan, have been
growing a variety of crops on their
7-acre farm in Central Washington
under the name Six Kids Farms.
The family sells sweet corn, egg-
plants, pumpkins, tomatoes, leeks
and an assortment of peppers out of
their barn, at farmers markets and
online. This year, they will be adding
alfalfa, wheat and cherries to the mix
by utilizing an additional 28 acres on
their property.
Business has been steady, but
no matter how popular their pro-
duce becomes, the Lopezes have no
desire to expand beyond the Yakima
Valley.
“For us, it’s not about getting
Dave Leder/For the Capital Press
Six Kids Farms co-owner Javier Lopez and his 6-year-old daughter,
Bella, examine cherry branches on the family’s 35-acre farm in Sun-
nyside, Wash., in late January. He will be growing Bing and Chelan
cherries for the fi rst time in 2022 after focusing mostly on sweet
corn, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers since 2017.
rich. It’s all about the lifestyle,” said
Lopez, whose fi ve siblings lend occa-
sional support but aren’t involved in
the day-to-day operations. “We’re
not looking to send our produce to a
warehouse. We just want to grow a
quality product that satisfi es a niche
market here in the valley.”
The family also wants their cus-
tomers to know that every crop
grown in their fi elds is cultivated with
care and meets the highest standards.
“People want to know where their
food comes from,” Lopez said, “and
being able to tell that story is very
important to us.”
Six Kids Farms started out by sell-
ing “the best sweet corn you’ve ever
had” and gradually added to the cor-
nucopia. Everything they grow earns
rave reviews from their customers,
but fi ve years in, sweet corn remains
their signature product.
The secret, Lopez says, is using
drip irrigation instead of sprinklers or
rill irrigation.
“Instead of watering on a sched-
ule, the drip system allows us to con-
centrate the water where it needs to be
when we need it,” he said. “We have
also found that by putting the water at
the root zone, we don’t lose as much
to evaporation.”
The result is a delicate texture
that is less starchy and more digest-
ible than the mass-produced corn typ-
ically found at the supermarket.
“You can grab it right out of the
fi eld and eat it,” Lopez said.
Off ering a one-of-a-kind product
has helped Six Kids Farms establish
a loyal following at farmers markets
in Union Gap, Toppenish, Granger,
Prosser and Kennewick. And while
they could likely add to their cus-
tomer base outside the Interstate 82
corridor, the family prefers to keep
the business local. After all, there are
only so many hours in a week.
“I want to enjoy life and not have
to work all the time,” Lopez said.
“I love farming, but I also want to
spend time with my family. I hon-
estly feel like I’ve found the secret to
happiness.”
But it’s not as though Lopez has
ample free time, either. When he’s not
working the land, the father of four
operates an agronomy consulting
company called Treskilion Manage-
ment. Fortunately, both businesses
provide plenty of overlap, which has
worked out well for Lopez and his
consulting clients.
“Now that I’ve been farming for
a few years, I understand the needs
of my clientele better than before,”
he said. “I’ve been able to adopt the
mindset of a farmer, and that has
given me much better insight into
what my clients are facing from year
to year.”
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